Caroline pov:
*One month later*
"Get up," the woman in white barked.
At this point, I'm numb to her orders. I've lost all sense of time in this damn tiny room. The first few days were hell, I fought back like a caged animal, scratching and screaming at anyone who touched me.
They had to strap me down to a white hospital bed just to draw my blood. The nurse wouldn't even look me in the eye while I begged her for help.
I begged because I knew she'd figure out I was pregnant. I could see it in her eyes, she knew. But when she told Adam I wasn't pregnant, I was both relieved and confused. Was she trying to help me or just covering her own ass? Either way, it didn't matter. She was risking trouble by lying.
Then Mr. Wilson, Nathaniel's father, made his grand entrance. I wish I Could erase those memories. I still feel his aftershave, his rough hand on my brea
Nathaniel pov:“Where the hell is she?!” I yelled, my fist connecting with Dylan’s face once more.The sickening crunch of bone echoed in the room, but I didn’t care. It had been two torturous weeks since Caroline had vanished, and every second that passed without finding her pushed me closer to the edge.I’d scoured every compound in Canada, tearing through them like a madman, but she was nowhere to be found. The thought of what she might be enduring was driving me insane.The FBI? Useless bastards. I’d been working with them for months, feeding them everything they needed to take down my father, but now, when it really mattered, they were hesitating.They needed something solid, something that would stick in court. But I couldn’t just sit around and wait for them to make a move. Not when Caroline was out there, in dang
Caroline pov:The echo of the heartbeat still haunted me, even after two days. It wasn’t just a memory; it was like a ghost that lingered in the corners of my mind, a sound too vivid to forget. That day, it all played out like a nightmare I couldn’t escape.Adam led me into that cold, sterile room, white, clinical as if emotions couldn’t exist in a place like that. The table in the middle, an ultrasound machine nearby, and glass mirrors on both sides. I couldn’t see through them, but I could feel eyes, watchful, detached, probably judging.How many were hiding behind those mirrors? How many were silently observing as they tied me down like some kind of animal?The nurse flipped a switch, and suddenly, the room was filled with the rhythmic thumping of my baby’s heartbeat.I couldn’t see the screen; the restraints wouldn’t
Caroline pov:The night was eerily silent, like a graveyard. The sky was a deep, inky black, speckled with a million stars gazing down. But inside me, a storm raged as fierce as any thunder outside.Her hand gripped mine, pulling me toward the car that idled nearby, its engine humming like an anxious predator.“Come, Caroline. The car’s waiting,” she urged, her voice tense as angry shouts echoed behind us.Her face, a mask of concern, twisted in the dim light, but I couldn’t bring myself to trust her.For all I knew, she could be one of them. How could she claim to be my aunt when my mother never mentioned her? And why now, after all these years?Nathaniel, at least I knew he wasn’t with them. He had always wanted to protect me. But her? She was a stranger, and this was my one chance to break free.
Nathaniel pov:"They'll be fine, boss," Theo said, his eyes meeting mine with a calmness I couldn't quite share."Just give me five more minutes."I glanced down at her still body, the oversized, tattered shirt hanging off her frame like she was disappearing into it.She looked so small, so fragile. I could barely recognize the girl I once knew. Her cheeks were hollow, and her eyes, though closed, seemed to carry the weight of everything she’d gone through.The image of her crumpled on the roadside was seared into my mind. If we hadn’t found her when we did, I don't think she would’ve survived. She was already halfway gone.When she first saw me, her eyes were wide, but it was like she didn’t even register who I was.I had to shake her gently, terrified that she might not recognize me at all. For a mome
Nathaniel's POV:"How is she?" The words left my mouth with a sense of urgency I couldn't hide, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest.The doctor smiled softly, "They both are stable right now."Both? Confusion hit me like a slap. The baby?"Wait... both?""The baby, sir."My heart stuttered."But she was bleeding... I thought..." I couldn't even finish the sentence.The blood, the chaos, I had been sure we had lost it. The baby couldn't have survived, right?"That was due to stress," the doctor explained patiently."It's not uncommon for some women to experience light bleeding. With everything she went through, it's expected."The relief that washed over me was almost too much to handle. I nodded, absorbing her words."The baby's
Caroline pov:***NEXT DAY***Slowly opening my eyes, I felt a throbbing pain in my head. How long have I been asleep? The last thing I remembered was Nathaniel's eyes and the blood.Was he really there or was it just a dream? The smell of strong disinfectant confirmed I was in the hospital.I blinked slowly, trying to survey the room, but my neck was stiff. The oxygen mask on my face felt uncomfortable as if I had been hit by a car multiple times. My throat was as dry as a desert."Hey, don't move," a shadow loomed over me.He was here. I tried to speak, but my mouth was covered by the mask. I needed water, but I couldn't ask for it."I know you're in pain, Love, but you need the oxygen for the baby," he said, gently brushing my hair away from my face.The baby? Was the baby still alive? I was confus
Caroline pov:I was curled up in bed, spooning tomato soup into my mouth, the warmth of it barely soothing the storm inside me.A few hours ago, I didn’t expect Nathaniel to bring me to a sleek penthouse in Berlin, Germany. Nor did I expect the sea of reporters waiting outside. He mumbled something about his father and the cult, but honestly, I was too drained to pay attention.My thoughts were louder. He killed my family. No matter how hard I tried to push that fact aside, every time I looked at him, the truth hit me harder.I vaguely remember him saying he’d been working with the FBL for some time, something about them trying to nail his father for years but never finding enough evidence. They finally caught him laundering money from investors.I was worried that they’d drag Nathaniel down with him, but he assured me he was an informant. Stil
Nathaniel pov:I looked down at Caroline, her soft breaths brushing against my chest as she slept. There was so much I needed to take care of, so many problems waiting to be dealt with, but I couldn’t leave her right now. Not with everything she’d been through.Telling her about Addison was so hard. The way her face crumbled when I told her... it wrecked me. I didn’t want her to blame herself, but of course, she did. That’s just how she is. Addison was the only friend she had left, and now even that was gone. I prayed the memorial would give her some kind of peace, but Taehyung? He wasn’t going to let it slide. And neither was I. Adam would pay for what he did, and I wouldn’t stop until I found him.I glanced at Caroline’s bruised face, her fragile body curled up close to mine. Everything about her screamed broken, but there was still so much strength in her. Now, it was just us, me, Nari, and our baby. No one else mattered. Her mother, her brother... they’d always stood in our way